The increasing importance of Jeremiah Masoli | Ole Miss Sports

Jeremiah Masoli threw his seventh intereception Saturday night, marking a season-high for his college career. He threw five picks two years ago, six last year, while helping Oregon to a 20-6 mark as a two-year starter.

It’s been clear from the beginning that Masoli has a bit of a Brett Favre mentality in that his aggressive nature can create a big play or result in a turnover. He has, however, forced fewer passes and taken better care of the ball from an interception standpoint in the last few games.

“I called the route where the ball had to be placed in a certain spot. I threw it there, but the guy had good coverage. I should have thrown the ball high and given him a jump ball. That’s my mistake. I can’t do that. That was a big turning point in the game. If we score right there, it’s a big momentum boost after the turnover.” The play came just two plays after Jason Jones recovered a fumble in the Auburn red zone.

Masoli threw four interceptions in his first three games, now three in his last five.

It has become clear that if Ole Miss is to have any chance of winning against the better teams in the league this season, the Rebels will have to have their best game on offense and win a high-scoring game. That hasn’t happened yet. Even on offense the Rebels are still looking for that crisp effort for 60 minutes. That effort will be hard to find when you can’t establish a run game because of the interior of your offensive line, the injuries and inexperience that dominate up there.

So in the meantime, Masoli’s role becomes more important if the Rebels are to have any kind of reveral of fortune down the stretch.

Meanwhile, the Rebels step out of SEC play this week for their final non-conference game, homecoming against Louisiana-Lafayette. Don’t be fooled if you see this week’s opponent presented as “Louisiana.” There is no such “University of Louisiana” that does not include a hyphen.